Artist: Agent Side Grinder
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Let's face it, a lot of synth/goth/industrial music is unbearably cheesy and/or off-putting. As much as I honestly love that stuff (when done well), there's legions of mesh-shirted idiots out there diluting the waters and ruining it for everyone else. On the other hand, thank goodness for groups like Interlace, probably the only contemporary synth-heavy industrial act I've heard that could be reasonably compared to Skinny Puppy, (early) Frontline Assembly and the like. No stupid guitars (almost always a bad idea outside of Ministry and even that's pushing it sometimes), minimal cornball vocals (unavoidable, but tolerable) and plenty of jackhammer beats and dark atmosphere. The single "Nemesis" is the group's first new material since 2004's "Imago" (also a fine release, as I have discovered) and its high quality bodes well for their forthcoming third album, still yet to be officially confirmed. Listen folks, if there's more stuff of this caliber out there, I want suggestions because I am woe to wade through the unsorted masses on my own. One new album this good is almost enough to keep me satisfied though; otherwise I may just have to stick with old-school minded industrial acts like Agent Side Grinder for my genre fix.
Interlace - Nemesis
Swedish industrial act Agent Side Grinder have completed a new project for release on cassette noise label Hästen och Korset entitled "The Transatlantic Tape Project". As the title suggests, the music for this tape was recorded by trading recordings through the mail, all over the world. For samples and more info, go here: http://www.myspace.com/transatlantictapeproject
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU, a special (almost) all-electronic feature:
01. The Bear Quartet - Sweet beef
02. TALK 1
03. Fever Ray - Triangle walks
04. Antifilm - Mado
05. Pistol Disco - Organ and drum
06. TALK 2
07. Håkan Lidbo - Born in the USA
08. Pan Sonic - Kahalaus
09. Agent Side Grinder - The screams
10. Existensminimum - 1993
11. TALK 3
12. Familjen - Det lilla livet
13. Tiger Lou - Crushed by a crowd (Mikael Jonasson remix)
14. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
15. TALK 4
16. Universal Poplab - I could say I'm sorry
17. Marybell Katastrophy - Hey Frank
18. Dear Euphoria - Pop pills
19. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
I barely keep up with industrial/EBM at all anymore, but I did go through a period in my teens when I was all about it, so I think I'll always have a soft spot for the stuff, especially early Wax Trax such as pre-guitar/"Alain" Jourgenson/electropop era Ministry. Taken into consideration, it's fitting that I find myself really enjoying the new Emmon album since it's so reminiscent of that era -- well-crafted, melodic-yet-dark electronic pop. And not dark like faux-vampire/mesh shirt dark, just minor key and beautiful. I still enjoy the minimalist and intentionally primitive music of acts such as Agent Side Grinder or Adolf Filter, but quality pop songs always win in the end and "Secrets & lies" is a great one, especially with the long buildup to the point that the heavier beats come in. I also appreciate the moderate tempo; yet another hallmark of earlier times, not to mention maturity and craftsmanship. I'm sure people will still find ways to dance ridiculously, should it comes on at your local goth nite, but it doesn't have to be that way.
PS, buy the disc here.
Emmon - Secrets & lies
Agent Side Grinder's excellent new track "The screams" off the new Enfant Terrible comp "Radio resistencia" is streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/agentsidegrinder
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Saralunden - Les mains d'un autre
02. TALK 1
03. Agent Side Grinder - The screams
04. Victims - Victims in blood #5
05. The Garlands - Freedom
06. Livaventura - Keep on driving
07. TALK 2
08. Anna Ternheim - Better be
09. NEI - City of gold
10. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Lost & losing
11. TALK 3
12. A Camp - Golden teeth and silver medals
13. Leif Jordansson - Mellan drömmar och bränder
14. Mechanical Bird - Harbour me
15. Samtidigt Som - Vid min sida
16. TALK 4
17. Wolfbrigade - Deny tomorrow
18. Dismember - Beyond good and evil
19. Marvins Revolt - Deliberate deeds
20. Timo Räisänen - Sweet Marie
21. TALK 5
22. Voices Break the Silence - This awful friend
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Swedish industrial/minimal-synth act Agent Side Grinder will be contributing a brand new track called "The scream" to Enfant Terrible's upcoming comp CD "Radio resistencia", due out in February. The group also has a new EP in the works, but there's no details on that yet.
UPDATE: Other Swedish acts confirmed to appear on the aforementioned comp include Saralunden and Oplen. Expect new full-length releases from those two in the near future as well.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Eric Beyond - Step off
02. TALK 1
03. Hanna Hirsch - Ingen kommer sakna oss
04. Francis - Bad to the bone
05. KA SO RE - Dramatically keep you
06. Susanna - Jailbreak (ft. Bonnie "Prince" Billy)
07. TALK 2
08. Love Is All - Give it back
09. Agent Side Grinder - Lashes of flashes
10. Parker Lewis - Bash the cynicals
11. TALK 3
12. Moto Boy - Pie Jesu
13. Down In June - The enemy within
14. Masshysteri - Tvivel
15. Underwater Sleeping Society - Saw you at my funeral
16. TALK 4
17. Viola - We owe love
18. Convoj - The shovel
19. Celestial - Crystal heights
20. TALK 5
21. The Deer Tracks - Yes, this is my broken shield
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XM U. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Dutch EBM/industrial label Enfant Terrible (Agent Side Grinder) will be putting out a new 7" from Swedish duo Adolf Filter on their Petit Enfant imprint. Go here for details and samples: http://www.enfant-terrible.nl/pe004.htm
Oplen, the electronic solo project of Henrik Sunbring from Agent Side Grinder and Kalamare Beat Club, will be releasing a full-length vinyl album on Enfant Terrible early next year. He'll also contribute a track to a comp on the same label, due out this coming fall.
I've mentioned Swedish minimal synth/industrial act Agent Side Grinder a few times in passing, most prominently in the very first edition of the MyFriends column series, but now that I've got a few copies of their self-titled LP in the distro, I figure it's time for a proper mp3 post. For genre aficionados, you know the drill - this is classic industrial pop the way it used to be played: purely manual. No laptops or fancy sequencers, rather they use real tape loops and analog synths working together in concert, in real time. If you dig stuff like Suicide or DAF or even newcomers such as Pistol Disco, you know what I'm talking about. It's cold and repetitive, dark and dreary in the best possible way. "Lashes of flashes" has it all, including the heavy, clattering percussion that makes it dancefloor-friendly to boot. If I had a DJ night somewhere, you know I'd be spinning that one for sure. So yeah, check it out! Hopefully I'm not the only one excited about getting a copy of this vinyl-only release on import.
Agent Side Grinder - Lashes of flashes
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Theresa Andersson - Na na na (empty heart)
02. TALK 1
03. Soviac - Malorca
04. Agent Side Grinder - Ricocheting memories
05. Svenson - Howlong
06. TALK 2
07. Hello Kinski - Summer is a waste of time
08. Britta Persson - Kill Hollywood me
09. Tredje Mannen - Cul-de-sac
10. TALK 3
11. The Goner - Spirit roundup
12. Liket Lever - Levande begravd
13. TALK 4
14. Paper - Out of it into it
15. Hebosagil - Big sun
16. Murmansk - Vague language
17. Randy - Who's side are you on?
18. TALK 5
19. The Deer Tracks - Slow collision
Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday.
Swedish industrial/minimal synth act Agent Side Grinder has started a "Trans-Atlantic Tape Project" utilizing a pair of 4-track cassette recorders while member Johan Lange is in Miami: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=62173944&blogID=399760965
Here's this week's radio show playlist:
01. Siena Root - Waiting for the sun
02. TALK 1
03. Cult of Luna - Eternal kingdom
04. Svartbag - Black Capricorn
05. Kite - Ways to dance
06. TALK 2
07. Eero Johannes - Finnrexin
08. Looptroop Rockers - The building
09. Holiday for Strings - Touch the tiger
10. TALK 3
11. Silverbullit - Magnetic city
12. Thomas Denver Jonsson - My wardrobe
13. Samtidigt Som - Constant in motion
14. Wolfbrigade - Feelings you don't want to feel
15. TALK 4
16. Johndoe - Piggtråd og piss
17. Sol Andersson - All is full of love
18. King of All the Animals - The snowflake song (I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper remix)
19. TALK 5
20. Last Days of April - You don't believe me (Monster & Maskiner remix)
21. Pacta Sunt Servanda - To claim your prize
22. The Goner - Spirit round-up
23. TALK 6
24. Tape - Altamira
25. Letum - Tallriksis
26. Zeigeist - Black milk
27. TALK 7
28. Knife and Ape - Semiotic dysfunction
29. Terveet Kädet - Message
30. Giant Boar - Chronic date
31. The Lionheart Brothers - Time river floaty
32. TALK 8
33. Echo Is Your Love - Lion tamer vs tigers
34. Agent Side Grinder - Lashes of flashes
35. Skitsystem - Solidaritetens sista utpost
36. TALK 9
37. Final Exit - Punk enough
Reminder: my show on Sirius Blog Radio runs Saturdays at 12 noon and midnight ET on channel 26 (Left of Center). My show is being preempted this coming weekend (05/24) for a special Memorial Day Block Party special, but I'll be back in full effect on June 7.